Ford Bold Moves ads fall flat with viewers

[Blue Oval Staff]

Click here for the article

[RichardJensen]

Interesting quote from Ford brand manager, saying that they expect lower overall scores, because the product ads are intended to resonate more effectively with a narrower segment of the marketplace.

 

Lee Iacocca once boasted to some media flunky or another that the new Dodge Dynasty was going to blow the Taurus away, because focus group testing showed the Dynasty's aggregate rank to be higher than the Taurus'. Participants were asked to rank the Dynasty, Celebrity, and Taurus on a scale of 1-3, and Lido was all excited because the Dynasty's average score was higher than the Taurus.

 

What he didn't realize, was that the Dynasty was consistently in 2nd place, behind either the Celebrity or Taurus. The Taurus either got first place or third, and since it got third place more often than first, its aggregate position was lower than the Dynasty.

 

Of course, time has shown how successful the Dynasty was vs. the First gen. Taurus.

 

Point is that surveys like this one are oversimplifications that can be too easily misinterpreted.

[Michael Reynolds]

Ahh the Dynasty......

 

 

More of an Imperial kinda guy myself.

[Traveler]

I actually had a Dynasty for a weekend years ago as a rental why my car was in for service. For its time, it was a decent car from the actually ride and drive. Soft ride with heavy lean but it otherwise drove decently. Long-term quality? Didn't have it long enough.

[Edgey]

The Bold Moves campaign seems to have been an ambitiously abstract marketing gag. People have seen through the tactic by the simple fact of its irrelevence and forced entertainment value. It's too disingenuine and unless they are very clever, large campaigns grow stale very quickly. I for one will be glad not to cringe at the Bold Moves ad once they have finally been dropped.

 

I do hope Ford figures out a better marketing campaign, something that builds equity instead of contributing to its ambiguous direction.

Edited August 22, 2006 by Edgey

[waymondospiff]

Well, I'm not a huge fan of "lifestyle" marketing. But I've come to the conclusion that I'm much less emotion-driven when it comes to large purchases than the average Joe-off-the-street. And that's fine.

 

To me, the "Bold Moves" initiative is a long-term marketing tagline and needs to be complimented by non-Bold Moves ads. Kind of like BMW, all of their ads (until recently, anyway) say "U.D.M." on the bottom. But some of BMWs ads talk about BMW as a whole and other ads talk about specific BMW cars, like the X3 or 5-Series. If Ford continues the Bold Moves ads less agressively after the initial roll out and does vehicle-specific ads I think the overall ad strategy is okay. Say "Ford" is great and also say "THIS Ford" is great.

 

As the Ford guy in the article states, it is a long-term strategy and it is trying to change perceptions about Ford, not an overnight task. But, as many people believe Chevy trucks are superior due to 20 years of "Like A Rock", some people will change their perceptions of Ford over time. And of course, the analyst has it right, Ford needs bold products too.

 

If this ad campaign runs into next summer, think of the ads then. They'll have the "three-bar" Fusion, Edge, Focus, Five Hundred, & Freestyle to highlight. Bold and the Gilette grille definetely go together. Perhaps it will ring more true by then and people will recognize "Hey, Ford is a pretty bold company."

 

And at least the song is catchy. But seriously, kill the dead-in-the-water "take the ex-husband shopping" Freestyle ad...that's the worst of the bunch.

 

Scott

[fllcobra]

The problem with the Bold Moves campaign is bandwagon marketing does not work anymore, especially with this generation. Everyone is different and therefore it is risky to target a certain demographic on mass scale because you risk alienating interest in customers who are not the focus of the ads.

 

I stated awhile back that Ford needs to show off the interiors and exteriors of the vehicles more instead of showing actors pretending to be cool.

[RichardJensen]

The problem with the Bold Moves campaign is bandwagon marketing does not work anymore, especially with this generation. Everyone is different and therefore it is risky to target a certain demographic on mass scale because you risk alienating interest in customers who are not the focus of the ads.

 

I stated awhile back that Ford needs to show off the interiors and exteriors of the vehicles more instead of showing actors pretending to be cool.

Bold Moves is not bandwagon marketing.

 

Bold Moves is about image, not individual products. While shots of products are necessary (otherwise people end up saying "huh" at the end of the spot--viz. Homer's second "Mr. Plow" spot), they should be used sparingly. In any given year, only about 4% of all Americans buy a new car. That means that only about 1 out of 25 people watching your commercial are actually in the market for any vehicle at all, let alone the vehicle you are offering.

 

TV commercials accomplish two things: the first thing is top-of-mind awareness (TOMA)--you say "cars", and the person you're talking to thinks "Ford", the second thing is what they associate with the Ford brand. If they associate positive images that they've picked up from commercials with your brand name, and they associate your brand name with the stuff you sell, you've accomplished about all you can accomplish with a TV commercial.

 

Product shots and descriptions of optional features, etc. are better placed in print, especially local print media.

 

The important thing in using the multiple advertising options today is that you use each medium properly. Yeah, you can hammer nails with a vice-grip, but it doesn't work as well as using a hammer. Similarly, you can use a TV commercial to tout optional features, but it doesn't work as well as using the TV commercial to make your brand appealing to the right audience, who then find out about your individual products when they're ready to buy.

Edited August 22, 2006 by RichardJensen

[ANTAUS]

Reminds me of the Inifinititiniki commercials in the 90's...the philosophical thoughts, ideas, quotes, sayings. Don't remember the vehicles they were pushing but it looked like some Calvin Klein commercials selling actors, not product lol